The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

The Count of Monte Cristo is a really really really long novel. I checked and at 46 hours it is the longest novel that I have listened to. 1Q84 is at a very close second. Perhaps it can be said that 1Q84 was also very long, too long, but I enjoyed it much more and did not feel like it was a chore to listen to. Since The Great Gatsby was a short and concise novel, the movie was able to stick fairly closely to the novel. The 2002 movie version of The Count of Monte Cristo was very different from the actual novel, and who can blame the filmmakers from trying their best to take such a long story and make it into a movie lasting slightly over two hours.

I can say that, overall, the story was very well written and inventive. You can see how the novel has influenced many authors who have come around since Alexandre Dumas penned the hugely long novel in 1844. What intrigued me about the story was that Edmond Dantes was able to get revenge on the people who had wronged him by simply allowing their misdeeds to lead to the ill effects that their actions deserved. He did not have to directly harm them but merely had to make sure that they didn’t get away with all of the crimes that they had committed over the years. He saw to it that their riches and positions in society would no longer protect them.

I almost gave up on the novel as I began to get more and more annoyed with how long the novel was. But, I am glad that I did not because the last 6 hours along with the first 6 I found to be best parts of the story. I would have rather done without, however, some of the middle 34 hours of listening.